The High Vibe Guide
You can feel happier! You can feel more positive, and it's so much easier than you think.
Whether you're a seasoned venturer or just starting out on your journey to radiating a more positive energy, my episodes will provide a wealth of inspiration, tools and wisdom to guide you in creating a more vibrant and positive life. It is possible. I have lived and breathed this journey. Let me explain how you can do it too.
The High Vibe Guide
43. The Inner Voice - Is that me?
In today's episode I delve into the vital distinction between the inner voice and our true self. Join me as we explore how this inner dialogue often masks our authentic identity, leading us to confuse thoughts and fears with who we really are. By bringing awareness to this inner voice, we can begin to detach from its influence and reconnect with our deeper self. Tune in to discover practical insights and techniques that can help you bridge the gap and embrace your true essence.
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Welcome to the High Vibe Guide, the podcast where I demystify the concept of raising our vibration. I'm Jenna, a yoga teacher, mum of three and passionate advocate for helping others to just feel happier. Let me explain to you how we can all live more contented and fulfilled lives, and how it's so much easier than you think. Hi guys, welcome back to the High Vibe Guide. Welcome back to the High Vibe Guide. Today I am going into a profound concept, one that's at the core of understanding our true selves, and it's recognising the inner voice, the constant chatter in our heads. But what makes today's episode different is that we're discerning this inner voice, this chatter, from who we really truly are. It's finding that separation Because, believe it or not, it's not one and the same thing.
Speaker 1:I am heavily inspired by Michael Singer right now. Please, please, please, go and read his books if you haven't already. I started out with the Surrender Experiment. His name's Michael A Singer. I'm now on to the Untethered Soul, and it has just been life-changing. I cannot emphasize enough how it's changed my life over the last few months.
Speaker 1:But so, inspired by the incredible Michael Singer, I want to guide you through identifying this voice, examining its role and then being able to realise that the true self exists beyond our thoughts. So, firstly, it's all about recognising the inner voice. So I want to introduce you to something that could be a major breakthrough in your self-awareness journey. You know I'm always talking about awareness and how it is the first and most important thing on our self-growth journey and it's recognising that voice in your head, the one that narrates, the one that comments, the one that judges. It's having that simple awareness of it. And for those of you that are unfamiliar with this concept or have no idea what I'm talking about here is a very, very quick exercise. Make your thoughts say hello, say it again in your head Now. Make it say hello a little bit louder, louder again. Now make it shout, make it scream hello.
Speaker 1:That is the voice I'm talking about. And you might sit there thinking, yeah, but I'm making it say that, or what voice? I don't really have none of voice. That that is the voice I'm talking about, the one that just thought that. That voice is like an internal narrator. It is constantly talking, it's constantly observing and labelling, and the funny thing is that most of us unconsciously identify that voice as me, as you. That's who you identify with, but I'm here to tell you there is so much more to our consciousness beyond this constant narration, this constant narration.
Speaker 1:So the true self, beyond the thinking mind, here is a powerful truth that yoga and meditation reveal you are not that voice. That inner voice is a tiny part of our mind and it's mostly governed by the ego, which structures our personality and our identity. But our true self is actually the awareness, the consciousness that observes these thoughts, that observes the inner voice. We just don't think that we're observing it, because we're so heavily involved in the thoughts, in the voice, that it feels like us, it feels like who we are, but we're actually observing it. We just don't feel like we are. So in yoga and many, many other spiritual traditions, so in yoga and many, many other spiritual traditions, this place where the awareness comes from it's called the seat of consciousness or the seat of self.
Speaker 1:And if you've experienced deep meditation, then you will, you would have felt this. And if you haven't experienced deep meditation, I hope that one day you do, because you will have felt how the mind grows quiet. There are no thoughts. Yet you are still present, you are aware and you are profoundly peaceful. That's what's happening in deep meditation. That's how we know that we aren't our thoughts, because we still exist when we're not thinking.
Speaker 1:And I know that kind of state might seem so far off to a lot of us. I'll be totally honest, I've only kind of dipped back into that state of meditation again. It takes a lot of time to get there. You have to be consistent and patient with it and you have to. Kind of well, for me anyway, I've had to kind of switch up the way I meditate, whether it's a different type of visualization or a mantra or anything. There's lots of types of different meditation out there. You have to find what works for you. And what works for you might work one month, then you might need something different the next month.
Speaker 1:Okay, but that is what happens when you get to a certain state of meditation there are no thoughts. How amazing is that there are no thoughts? You are still present, you are still aware, you are still aware and you are profoundly peaceful. And I'm here to tell you, guys, that is you, that state that you're in in deep meditation. That's the real, you Existing beyond your thoughts. And, guys, you don't have to be religious, atheist, agnostic, whatever to believe in any of this. Truth is one. Paths are many. Okay, we're all getting to the same place, and that place is of being, not thinking, it's of being. This is why this week's guide of meditation is called how to Stop Thinking and Start being. It's the same place of pure consciousness that we're all trying to get to through these different practices. So, whether it's the power of God, whether it's the power of the universe, whether you believe in energy, chi, shamanic journeying, or whether you're not into any of that and just believe in the power of the mind, the mindset, you know, the ultimate destination is the same place. It's that of being. It's that of being.
Speaker 1:So we need to understand the ego as well as the thinking mind. So our thinking mind, including that ever-present voice, is largely our ego's construction. Okay, so we spoke about the ego before and how it works with the id and the superego. But the ego gives us our identity, which comes from the id a little bit. You know that primal desire want place, but the ego then develops our likes, our dislikes and a sense of who we are in the world, working with the superego. So the ego is incredibly useful and necessary for navigating life. So the ego is incredibly useful and necessary for navigating life. But. But it can also become dominant and it makes us feel like we are our thoughts. It makes us feel that that's what we identify with, that's us, that's me, that's my mind. You know, we're so caught up and present in the mind we think that's who we are.
Speaker 1:So if someone asks you who are you you know it's not a an uncommon question in this society if someone comes up to me and they say who are you? So if I was to answer based on how we normally identify ourselves, you know, based on roles, traits or history, I would say something like I'm jenna miller, I'm a yoga teacher, I'm a mum, I'm a wife, you know I'm married. But this answer based how notice how it's based on temporary markers. How do you answer that question if you strip those labels away? Because yes, I said I'm jenna miller, but who were you before you were jenna miller? Oh well, I was jenna riley, that's my maiden name. Who were you before you had kids? Oh, I was just. You know I was. I was single, I was working, living in london. I wasn't a yoga teacher. Yet do you see how I'm still labelling myself with all these temporary markers? So who was I when I was 10, running through the playground. Who was there?
Speaker 1:There's one place that's always constant. There's something within each of us that's always there, that doesn't change. Yeah, so who was it that was looking in the mirror as a 10 year old looking at the reflection of a 10 year old's body? Was that different to the person who looks in the mirror today? No, that's what I'm getting at. And you, beneath all those things, and that me, that you is the essence of your consciousness. What has always been there since the moment you arrived to where you are today. What has always been there? Everything else that we identify as is temporary Our bodies, our hair colour, that we identify as is temporary our bodies, our hair color, our likes, our dislikes, our beliefs, where we live, what we do. You know, all these things are temporary, even our bodies, we think. You know I am my body, this is me, this is my arm, this is my leg.
Speaker 1:But in yoga it's very interesting we're taught as teachers, when we're doing our training, to refer to the body, the arm, the leg, the mind. It's a shell that's always changing. If you had an amputation, if your arm got cut off, with that thing inside still be there, would that be different? No, that doesn't change. So are you with me? Are you getting all this? I think it's mind blowing.
Speaker 1:But anyway, how do we observe the voice? Let's get back to that inner voice. How do we observe the voice without identifying with it? That is the question, isn't it, guys? Tis the question how do we observe the voice without identifying with it? So I'd like to let today be an experiment. I want you to notice how the mind chatters on, how it narrates everything, and I want you to attempt just observing, without reacting, without judgment. And the great thing is, guys, you don't need to silence the voice. You don't need to.
Speaker 1:Instead, the first step of this journey is letting the voice do its thing all day, while you just inwardly step back into awareness. Now, I'm not expecting you to be able to stay in that kind of state all day. I've tried. It's hard. So just as often as you can, and don't beat yourself up when you do slip out of it, because you will. We're all so used to getting caught up in the mind's noise that we think that's who we are. So it's hard to find the separation first.
Speaker 1:But awareness is the first step. And just inwardly stepping back, watching the mind, just notice what it's doing. Sometimes it's easier to even kind of reflect on what the mind was just doing. I found it really hard in the beginning to step back and watch the mind as it was thinking, kind of in real time. But as you just keep practicing, you keep this level of awareness up throughout the day. You do start to be able to hone it into the present and you can watch how the mind just doesn't shut up and you're unaware of it. So often you are, you're so unaware of it. But when you tune into that awareness you realize it doesn't shut up awareness. You realise it doesn't shut up. So just bear in mind these things do take time and practice.
Speaker 1:But just be interested by it at first. Be curious, be fascinated by what you're discovering. Remember the key to all of this is no judgment, no criticism, pure compassion. But the mind, you'll notice, creates both sides of a conversation. It interprets your emotions and tells you stories about yourself. But as you become more aware of this, you'll also start realising how much power you then have to choose which thoughts to interact with, choose which ones speak the most truth and which ones you want to believe and work with.
Speaker 1:So it's all about letting go of control as well and practicing being, being, not thinking, because so often we cling to this internal chatter and we identify with it, because it's our way of creating security and control. If you think about it, inside, the mind is the one thing we have total control of. We don't always realise it, but our subconscious does. We have total control over what happens inside our mind. We don't have control over everything outside of us. We don't have control of everything outside of us. We don't have control of everything outside of us. And because we then narrate everything, judge everything, comment on everything inside, you'll start noticing that's what the internal voice does. It narrates everything, has a comment, an opinion about everything. It kind of blends it and taints it with its own perspective. From past experiences you know past beliefs, past conversations. It comes through. We filter it. We then comment and narrate and judge. It's our way of making reality safe and controllable inside us. That's why the brain and the mind and the inner voice does all this. It's a way of making us feel safer.
Speaker 1:But the funny thing is true control doesn't come from thinking. It comes from this awareness, and I've talked about this before. When it comes to surrender. Life flows better when we simply be, rather than overthinking everything. Just let go, soften the grip. Soften that grip and I've been experimenting with this awareness now Over the last few months and it's just been life-changing. Moving from thinking to being has been such a liberating experience that I just had to come on here and share it with you all. I couldn't not. And as we practice observing and letting go, we just continue to connect with the calm, with the joyful nature of our true self. So I'm setting a little challenge for the week.
Speaker 1:I'm setting a little challenge for the week. I want us to all try stepping back internally, stepping back, withdrawing from your thoughts this week and just start noticing. Not changing anything. Just start noticing because when you find yourself deep in the mental story, in the chatter, gently ask yourself who's aware of this conversation that my mind's having right now? Who's watching? Who's noticing this? Really just feel into that awareness itself and let it guide you into that place of peace.
Speaker 1:Remember, thoughts are not facts. You are not your thoughts. Thoughts are simply experiences happening in the space of your consciousness. That's all that's happening. It's energy, all thoughts are energy, energy in motion. Energy is always moving and it's best to let them move through us and pass through like a ripple.
Speaker 1:When something doesn't sit right with us, we don't like it. So we create resistance internally. And that's when we store these thoughts, this energy, in the body. It doesn't stop moving, it kind of if you go on to kind of like a physics kind of level with this because energy is always moving, it stays in the body but it starts to just circle around itself like an orbit, like a planet. You know, it's in the body, this spinning little circle, just stored in the body, and it keeps coming up. What trauma does? Yeah, keeps coming up. We keep suppressing it and it will keep kind of bobbing towards the surface. We keep suppressing it. It keeps bobbing up, we keep suppressing it. It keeps bobbing up, we keep suppressing it. Which is why in yoga, we learn to feel something in the present, as it's happening, learn that everything is like a ripple. Something happens, we don't like it, but we just sit with it and when we do this we experience it fully. It enters us and then passes through, it leaves again. We don't store it, but it's in this resistance that we create. That's what ends up keeping it inside. We don't let it out because we're not dealing with it, we're not processing it properly.
Speaker 1:It's amazing when you just keep learning and reading more and more into this. It just makes so much freaking sense. But that's what I would like us to practice this week just noticing, being aware. Notice the mind when it's busy, not changing anything, not controlling anything. Just start to notice and you will become fascinated with it, how the mind just doesn't stop. And don't be angry at your mind, angry at yourself. It's just doing what it thinks it needs to do to stay safe. We've just forgotten that quiet place inside. But that's what we learn through yoga and through meditation is how to find that place again, that place of quiet, the place of calm, because it's always there. It's always there, so it's just building that awareness of it first.
Speaker 1:So I hope this episode today has helped you to connect at least with the awareness, like I said, of the real you. Maybe I've just completely enlightened you. You had no idea there was that place inside you, but I promise is it's in all of us. That place beyond the mind's chatter, that place that's watching, is always aware, and I'd love to hear about your experiences.
Speaker 1:Like you, try this out, send me a message, dm me or leave a comment sharing your insights, because, remember, the journey from thought to that true presence isn't always simple, but what it is is life-changing, and I am here to guide you each step of the way as much as I can. So thank you for joining me on the high vibe guide today and, until next time, stay present, stay aware and just keep looking for the good stuff. Thanks, guys. Thank you all so much for tuning in. If you enjoyed today's episode, please share with your friends and family to continue spreading that positivity. You can find me on instagram at the high vibe dot guide. Get in touch, I would love to hear from you. Thank you all so much for listening and I'll see you back here next time at the high vibe guide.